


Snowball Continued

by OTTSTF



Series: Stranger Connections [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 04:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13240104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: Chapter One:• Mike and Eleven head outside for a brief moment of peace.• Their peace is interrupted, and Eleven shows her anger.• Eleven decides she needs to sort things out with Max, but ends up sending Mike into a speech focused on her.Chapter Two:Before heading home, Hopper grabs Mike, Eleven, Will and Joyce to discuss how the party can remain in contact with Eleven.





	1. Friends and Foes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic ever.  
> I don't know if I'll ever add any more chapters. It definitely doesn't need any, but they would be followups if any do get added.  
> All chapters should have a fine closing point. Cliffhangers are not a thing in this work.
> 
> I'll be honest, it's a bit all over the place in regards to what goes on, as I wanted to explore quite a few scenarios.  
> I tried my best to wrap them together nicely, so hopefully I've done a good enough job of that.  
> In any case, I'm surprisingly proud enough to post it.
> 
> Good lord Duffers, please save me.

As their song came to an end, Mike and Eleven’s dance slowly ended with it. For a second they just stood there, looking into each-other’s eyes, grateful that they can finally spend this time together.

El leaned her head against Mike’s once again, prompting him to let out a sigh of happiness. They held each-other tight, not wanting to let go. The hug is eventually broken by El as she leans back to look at Mike once again.

 “Can we go outside?” she asks. She glanced around briefly before looking back to Mike. “It’s really… crowded in here.”

“Yeah, of course.” He lets a smile sneak its’ way onto his face, then takes a quick glance around as well, observing the amount of people. “It really is, isn’t it?”

She smiles back, and nods her head slightly. He takes her hand, his fingers fitting between hers like pieces in a puzzle. They both give each-other their trademark smiles once again before walking towards the exit.

Once outside, they lean against the school wall, letting a peaceful silence linger between them. Mike reflects on the events that led them to this moment, and he thinks to himself, that despite all the grief that they’ve all had to go through, in his opinion, this moment with El right now, makes it all worth it.

He turns to her, and breaks the silence. “Hey, El?”

She turns her head to look at him. “Yes?”

Mike feels the same tingling he felt in his stomach when he kissed her not too long ago. He can’t help but let his goofy smile creep its’ way back onto his face. “I’m... really glad you’re back. I missed you so much.”

Her shy smile forms. “Me too.” The smile is soon replaced with an expression of guilt. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was sooner.”

Mike reacts quickly to her apology. “Hey, it’s not your fault.” The guilt is suddenly passed onto him as he remembers his reaction towards Hopper that night. “And, now that I’ve had time to think about it, it isn’t the Chief’s fault either.”

She looks confused, unsure how it could possibly not be his fault. Her confusion doesn’t last long as Mike begins explaining his thoughts.

“I mean, of course he kept you hidden for all that time, but I realise now that he was right. It probably would’ve been really dangerous for you to be out here, and keeping you in my house would’ve been even worse.”

El frowns as she remembers the day she came back. Images of the Wheeler house surrounded by flashing blue lights and vehicles belonging to the bad men rush through her mind.

“They came to our house looking for you.” He began, but he was quickly interrupted by El.

“I saw.” she nods her head. “Through the window, I saw them talking to you.”

Mike’s eyes widened in shock. He thought he imagined seeing El through the window but that idea was just proven wrong by her.

“Wh- You _were_ there? I thought I was going crazy!” They both let out a small giggle, but Mike's were soon replaced with the most serious face one would ever see him pull.

“They wanted me to tell them where you were.” He pauses for a moment, before continuing. “Obviously I didn’t know but even if I did, I would never tell them. _Never_. No matter what they say or do. I swear.”

Her small smile returns. “Thank you, Mike.”

The smile is replicated on his face. They just stand there smiling at each-other for a good second until she leans her head on his shoulder. He can’t help but let his smile grow bigger.

 

They remain there for the better half of a minute before their peace is interrupted by calls from the doorway.

“Hey, Frog Face!” Mike and El look up to see Troy walking towards them. Mike lets out a groan, knowing this can only go one way: bad.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” he continues.

 “Mouth breather.” El says under her breath.

Mike nods, before responding. “Go away, Troy.”

“Excuse me?” Troy acts shocked to hear such a demand from Mike.

“Please, man. For once, just leave it.” Mike can’t believe his own words. Asking Troy to leave him alone? No chance.

Troy obviously thinks the same. “As if, Frog Face! What’re you harassing this poor lady for?” He turns to look at El. “Surely you don’t want to hang out with a loser like Wheeler.”

She responds by furrowing her brows at him.

Troy acts shocked once again. “You can’t be telling me you want to hang around with this nerd, surely?”

Her facial expression doesn’t change.

He smirks before continuing. “Stop lying to yourself. Nobody would want to hang around with _him_.” His eyes glance towards Mike as a pointer. “Come on, leave him.” Troy reaches for El’s hand, but she yanks it away.

“No.” She responds simply. Facial expression still unchanged.

“Troy.” Mike’s voice becomes louder as anger begins to fill him. “For the last time. Go. Away.”

Troy looks at him and raises an eyebrow. “And who the hell do you think you are, Frog Face?”

He clenches his fist and raises it to Mike’s face. Mike closes his eyes, doing as much as he can to brace for the incoming fist. He remains braced for a second before slowly opening his eyes. Not too far from his face, he sees Troy’s fist, struggling against an invisible force mid-air. Mike looks towards El, who’s eyes are focussed on Troy’s fist. Blood slowly begins to fall from her right nostril.

Troy turns his focus to El, his eyes widening in realisation of who this girl is. “Y- You!” is all he manages to mumble. She takes a step towards him, leaning in close to his face.

“No.” She whispers to him. With a quick upward flick of her head, he is flung backwards onto the floor. Troy lets out a groan as he hits the floor hard, barely catching himself. He glances back up to El as fear quickly builds. He tries to back away but is quickly frozen in his path by the same invisible force.

Behind El, Mike tries to talk her out of whatever she plans to do to Troy. “El, don’t! He’s not worth the trouble!

She ignores Mike’s calls, looking down at Troy like a piece of dirt. “This mouth breather needs to be taught a lesson.” she announces. She raises her hand as if she’s holding a cup, and Troy suddenly rises to his feet, floating slightly above the ground. She directs him towards the wall before pressing him against it. Troy lets out another slight groan as he hits the wall, but this one sounds muffled, as if he can’t get it out properly.

Mike watches as El walks towards Troy once again. The fear in Troy’s face could be seen from a mile away at this point. Troy tries to speak, but struggles under the force against his neck. He manages to squeeze out a “Please!” before he’s brought forward slightly, only to be pressed against the wall again, letting out yet another groan.

Mike realises how angry El is and begins to actually fear for Troy’s life. “El, stop! He’s really not worth it!”

Both El and Troy look at Mike in sync. Troy’s eyes had begun to water, whilst El’s seem darker than ever before. She doesn’t seem like she’s going to let off any time soon. His worry is soon relieved as he watches Troy’s feet slowly lower to the ground. He touches down and leans forward suddenly, gasping for air.

El leans down to Troy before speaking again. “Are you sorry?” She asks him. He looks up to her, confusion on his face.

 She repeats herself slowly, as if to a simpleton. "Are, you, sorry?"

Troy looks to Mike, an expression of disgust forming on his face before complying. “Yes.”

 El doesn’t seem convinced. "Say it.”

Troy gives in, grumbling a line he never thought he’d say in his life. “I’m sorry.”

 Still, El remains unconvinced. “Clearly!” she demands, her voice raising loud enough for the entire street to hear.

Troy flinches at her loud voice, eventually giving in to her demands. “I’m sorry, okay? For everything. You’ll never be disturbed by me again. I promise!”

El raises an eyebrow at that last word. “You promise?”

He responds quickly, desperate to get out of this situation. “Yes, I promise! Please, just let me go!”

El turns to Mike, before asking his verdict. “What do you think?”

Mike nods his head. He’d never been one to fight back, even if the punches are dealt by a telekinetic friend. And, by the look on Troy’s face, he’s sure the lesson has been planted firmly into his head.

El returns her focus to Troy. "Go.” she says simply, eerily similar to how she’d said it last time. Troy begins to run for the school doors, but El can’t resist but give him a helping nudge. He seemingly trips over his own feet, falling to the floor. He turns his head towards them both, a mix of emotions in his face, before getting back up and resuming his run towards the doors.

Mike turns to El, who is still watching the doors slowly close themselves behind Troy. “El?”

Her gaze is broken from the doors, and turns to Mike. “Yes?” she responds simply.

He looks into her eyes for a moment before glancing at her upper lip, his attention caught by the blood still under her nose. He lets out a small smile before wiping the blood away with a tissue from his pocket. He then looks back into her eyes before continuing. “You’re amazing.” is all he says.

She attempts to respond, but she’s interrupted by his lips being pressed to hers. She gasps slightly at the sudden kiss, but happily returns it. This kiss lasts much longer than their kiss in the hall earlier. He eventually breaks the kiss and looks back into her eyes, with a smile plastered onto his face.

A smile forms on her face too, before she takes another attempt at responding to his thanks. “Any time.” is all she says.

“Shall we see what the others are up to?” He asks, nodding towards the school entrance.

She nods simply, before taking his hand in hers. They begin walking towards the doors, taking their time before reuniting with the rest of the party.

 

They return to the hall, and it doesn’t take long for them to find the rest of the party sitting at the table that they were previously at. They approach the others before they’re spotted by Dustin. “There they are!” Dustin announces, pointing towards Mike and El. Will, Lucas, and Max turn their attention to them as they approach. El notices Max sat at the table and feels guilt rise, but also notices her hand being held by Lucas, which sends a sense of relief through her.

They sit at the table, and Will is the first to question their whereabouts. “Where have you two been?”

Dustin lets out a quiet giggle, which warrents him a nudge in the arm from Will. Mike is the one to answer his question. “Oh, uh, just outside. We needed some fresh air.”

Lucas is the next to speak. “Do you know what happened to Troy? He came in looking all shook up, as if he’d seen a ghost!”

Mike and El share a glance at one another, a smirk breaking onto both of their faces.

Dustin’s eyes widen in realisation, an expression of satisfaction also forming. “Wait, you’re not saying it was you two, are you?”

El eventually nods her head, confirming Dustin’s suspicion.

“I knew it!” Dustin exclaims, a bit too loud. “I told them it was probably you. What else could it be?”

“Quiet, you idiot!” Lucas nudges Dustin this time, earning a glance from him.

Dustin eventually nods his head. “Sorry.”

El turns her focus to Max, sat on the opposite end of the small table. She hesitates for a moment, before deciding that she needed to sort things out with her. “M- Max?”

Max glances at El quickly, as if shocked to hear her name emerge from her. “Um, yeah?”

El glances downwards briefly before continuing. “Could we talk?”

Max looks confused for a moment, before nodding. They both get up, and El tugs at Mike’s arm for him to join them. He raises to his feet slowly before following.

They leave the hall but linger in a hallway, away from anyone else. El turns to Max once again, before voicing up her reasons for bringing them out here. “I just – uh, wanted to apologise for the way I treated you before.”

Max looked confused for a second before realising what El was referring to. “Oh, uh, right. Why _did_ you ignore me there?”

El ducked her head in shame, feeling guilt spread through her. “I, uh...” She struggles to get the words out, but persists, knowing she has to. “I saw you both together here. You were riding around Mike on your...” She doesn’t know what the board with wheels is called, but the answer is soon given.

“Skateboard” Max names it for her. El eventually nods, before continuing.

“Yes, and you were smiling together so I...” She feels embarrassment fill her as she begins to admit her feelings. “I thought you were replacing me. I was worried Mike would forget about me because of you.” Mike glances at El in shock.

“Wh- what? Forget about you? The girl that I stumbled across in the woods, the girl that’s saved my life more times than I could count, the girl that helped us find Will, the girl that -” This one was hard for him to mention. Tears began building in his eyes. “The girl that vanished into thin air whilst having a staring contest with a Demogorgon?" Both girls smirked at his wording on the last point, earning a slight smile from Mike too, before he continued. “You changed my life completely, El. Not just because of the monsters and the Upside Down. Not just because you can do things just by thinking about it. If anything, you helped me realise who I really am.”

Tears were beginning to build in both their eyes at this point, but Mike persisted. “When you vanished with the Demogorgon, I felt my life shatter into a billion pieces right there and then. Life literally had no meaning to me after that. Ask any of the guys, I was the grumpiest asshole to be around.” He glanced at Max, who looked as if she was both shocked and touched by this story. He turned back to El before continuing once again. “And then, when they tried to bring Max into the party, I treated her like absolute shit because… well, I felt the same. I thought they were trying to replace you.”

He waited a moment, taking the time to sniffle, before finishing his speech. “Then, when you walked through the door at the Byers’, and I saw you, it was as if everything around me paused. There could’ve been guns firing right against my ears. All I could focus on was you, standing there, alive. Back after three-hundred and fifty-three days of calling. The pieces of my life that shattered all over the place, it was as if you picked them all up and glued them back together. I’ve never felt better in my life.”

El couldn’t stop herself. She lunged forward and wrapped Mike in her arms, holding him as tight as she possibly could without crushing him. It didn’t take him long to return the hug, even less so for them both to lean their faces against each-other’s shoulders, crying sobs of happiness into each-other. Max watched as they both held each-other, feeling as if she was suddenly forgotten. As cheesy as this scene in front of her was, she didn’t want to interrupt. She felt as if they both needed this moment together, and actually felt somewhat honored that she caused it ( _kind of?_ ). So, she stood in silence, watching the two embrace each-other for what felt like half an hour.

Eventually they managed to break their hug apart. They wiped away their tears, before looking into each-others eyes once again. They both let out a small giggle, before they suddenly remembered they weren’t alone. They both turned to look at Max, who was waiting there patiently. “Damn, guys, I didn’t think I’d see this side of you both any time soon!”

They both smirked again. “Shut it, Zoomer.” Mike said through his smile. Max smiled before realising what he just said.

“Wait – what did you call me?"

Mike nodded his head. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Max straightened both her face and posture, and saluted. “Yes sir.”

The three of them broke into laughter. Once they had recovered, Mike suggested they return to the rest of the party. The girls agreed, and so they headed back to enjoy the rest of the night with the others.


	2. Terms of Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt the need to add a bit more to this story, so here we are.

As the Snow Ball came to an end, the party went their separate ways. Lucas and Max are collected by the girl's mother, and Dustin is collected by Steve, leaving Mike, Will and Eleven. They make their way to the parking lot, where Joyce and Jim are waiting for them. Joyce notices the three making their way towards them, and sends a smile in their direction. "There they are!"

Jim turns his attention to them. "About time." he grumbles. He opens the passenger-side door of his truck. "Hop in, Joyce, I need to have a word with you all." He returns his glance to the three teenagers approaching, and gestures towards his truck telling them to get in, before climbing into the driver's seat himself.

Mike can't help but worry. Surely this is going to involve a conversation about his reaction towards the Chief that night, and he's pretty sure a conversation about that can only go badly. There's no escape from this though, he thinks to himself, so he continues his way towards the car. The three of them climb into the back in an uncomfortable – for Mike at least – silence.

Much to his partial relief, the silence is broken by Jim. "We need to work out how things are going to be between us. Between all of you and El." Mike doesn't know how to feel. Excited? Scared? What way is this going to go?

His panic is soon washed away, as Jim passes an envelope to El. "Open it, then we'll discuss." She slides out a small piece of paper. Her attention is immediately drawn to her name.

"Jane Hopper" she reads. Gasps emerge from everyone but her and Jim. She looks up to Mike, with confusion on her face, until looking to Jim. "What is this?"

He gives a small smirk. "The beginning of your normal life, Jane." His answer doesn't help her confusion at all, so he continues. "It's a birth certificate. Doc. Owens sorted it out and gave it to me. We're family, now."

Excitement builds in her face. "So you're..." The excitement soon fades, as she gulps before saying the word. "...Papa?"

A slight, but visible frown forms on his. "Let's _not_ use that word."

She nods her head, and thinks of what she's heard others call their fathers by, eventually deciding simplicity is best. "Dad?"

His frown is replaced by a smile, and he nods his head. "Yeah. That's me. That's  _us_ now." Joyce can't help but let tears of happiness form in her eyes. The smile on her face the biggest it's been for a while. She feels happy and relieved that El-  _Jane_ , can finally have a chance at a normal life.

Mike's also got a smile on his face, but he can't help but wonder. "Jane? Where did that come from?"

El speaks up first. "My real name. Jane Ives."

Joyce hears the surname and looks to Jim. "So we  _did_ find the right person!"

Jim turns his attention to Joyce and simply nods, before turning back to the three in the back. "It would've been far too obvious to keep her full name, but I guess he didn't want to rid her of her true identity fully. I guess, considering you've been with me for a year, it made sense to put you under my name."

El looks to Jim, her trademark smile forming on her face. She leans forward to give him a hug. "Thank you... dad."

The smile on his face grows, but he quickly reminds her of who's to thank. "Hey, save some of it for the doc, kid. If it weren't for him, this wouldn't be a thing."

She lets off, looking back to Jim, before nodding her head. "When can we see him?"

"I'll see about that, let him know you want to say a few things." he responds. El nods her head at him. Jim continues, focusing primarily on the two boys now.

"Anyway, we need to work out what's going to happen between you three." Mike's eyes widen. Is he hearing this right?

"The doc said we should lay low for another year." he adds. Mike feels a pit open in his stomach, anger begins to climb up through it, but he doesn't manage to express any, thankfully so, as Jim continues, " _But_ , I can't bare to keep you guys apart for any longer. It's not fair on any of you." he turns his attention to El. "Especially you."

Mike nearly jumps out of his seat in excitement. This is the exact opposite of what he was expecing to hear. Jim resumes, "But we still have to be careful. I'm not completely dismissing the doc's words. For a year, we need to keep quiet." He glances over the three of them before continuing. "That means all visits, home or away, need to be planned in advance. No sudden knocking on the door unannounced, do you understand?" He focuses his glance mainly to Mike, awaiting their response.

"Yes sir." both Mike and Will respond,  Mike's eagerness impossible to not see. Mike is willing to make any and all compromises if it means he can continue to see El.

Jim continues. "Good. So, now we decide on safe places for all of you to meet." he glances to Will. "Will already knows where the cabin is," and then to Mike, "and I'm going to assume I can trust you to keep this promise. Only you two are to ever know where the cabin is. Nobody else. Not even the rest of your little group." As much as they consider that a bit unfair on the others, Mike quickly nods his head in agreement. Will shortly follows.

Joyce speaks up. "I don't mind you all visiting our place to meet up." Jim nods his head in agreement. He knows from his own examination that the Byers' house is safe.

Will is next to speak. "And Mike's? The basement is usually where we all go."

Mike quickly responds. "Not a good idea."

Will looks to him in confusion. "What? Why?"

"After El vanished, the bad men came to our place looking for her. A few dozen of them tore the place apart and I'm sure they've wired the place to a stupid extent. I know the phones are definitely wired at least." he ducks his head as he remembers the day.

Jim raises an eyebrow, impressed both by the knowledge, and honesty of Mike at this point. "Good man, Wheeler. I had no idea they'd wired your place." Mike nods his head.

Jim summarises their list of places. "So, you two can visit the cabin. El can visit the Byers if the others want to see her too..." he suddenly remembers how small the list is.

A small silence surrounds them until Will speaks up. "What about the arcade?"

Mike perks up at the idea. "Yeah! It's a small place; if she was able to come to the Snow Ball, the arcade shouldn't be a problem." he turns his gaze to El. "We could see if you like any of the games there. Max does, so I'm sure you could too." She smiles and nods in response.

Jim considers the option for a brief moment before giving his verdict. "Okay, yeah, the arcade. Should be fine." He decides three locations is enough for the time being. "Anyway, let's talk transport." He turns to El. "If you ever leave the cabin, I want you in a car, hidden. Either this one, or Joyce's car. No walking out on your own, no bike rides." He looks to Mike as he mentions bikes. The three of them nod in agreement before he continues. "If you ever come to the cabin, you better be damn sure you're not followed. Take a different route each time, and remember: -"

Mike finishes his sentence. "Just us. Nobody else."

A small smile plays at Jim's face. "Good man." He turns to Joyce. "Well, I think we're good for now. It's getting late."

Joyce nods in agreement as she opens her door. "Yes, it is." she turns her glance to Will. "Come on, let's get home."

Will nods with a smile before opening his door to climb out. He turns to Mike and El. "Bye guys." They give him a wave him goodbye, before he turns to Jim. "Bye, sir."

"See ya, kid." Jim responds. Will continues his way to Joyce's car, climbing in before the engine groans to life, and they roll off.

  


Jim turns to Mike. "How're you getting home, kid?"

"My bike's over there." he gestures towards the bike racks with a nod of his head.

Jim shakes his head. "Go get it and pop it in the back. I'll drop you off." Mike feels surprised by the kind gesture from the Chief, but tries to hide it. He smiles and nods his head, before climbing out and heading towards his bike.

Jim and El sit in silence for a brief moment before she remembers the envelope she's holding. She passes it back to Jim. "Thanks again. Thank you, so much."

He takes the envelope, placing it in the glove compartment, and gives her a smile. "No problem, kid. It's the least I can do to make this next year even the slightest bit bearable." She smiles back. The peaceful silence resumes before Mike opens the boot, placing his bike in before shutting it and returning to his seat in the back, next to El. Jim starts the engine, and is about to put the truck into gear before Mike speaks up.

"Hey Chief, before we go... " He slows to prepare himself for what he's about to say. El watches him; she's sure she knows what he's about to say. "- I just wanna say I'm sorry, for the way I acted back at the Byers."

Jim nods his head, looking at Mike through the rear-view mirror. "Kid, don't worry about it. I understand."

Mike is thankful that his apology is accepted,  and lets a smile onto his face before continuing. "It was just, such a shock that I couldn't think straight. It was stupid of me to lash out onto you like that. I get that now."

Jim can't help but feel impressed at the words being spoken by Mike. He nods his head again. "Kid, seriously. Don't worry about it, I get it. After, how many days did you say it was?" he turns his head to lok at them both properly.

"Three-hundred and fifty-three days." they say in sync. They look at each-other, impressed at how well timed that was.

"Right." Jim continues, "nearly a year you'd been trying to call out to her, without knowing where she was or even if she could hear you." he pauses for a moment. "But believe me when I say this, she was  watching you as much as she could handle. We weren't anywhere near enough to hear your calls through the radio, so she'd be  watching in that head of hers."

Mike turns to look at El. "Wait, you could see me?"

She turns to him and nods her head. "Always in the fort. I tried so hard to tell you I was there, but I couldn't."

He smiles before continuing. "So, every time I felt you were with me..."

She finishes his sentence for him. "I was." she lets a smile grow on her face. His grows bigger in response.

Jim  continues, "That's why I can't possibly keep you two apart any more. I don't  _want_ to keep you apart any more. You knew each-other for a week, and then you dedicate all that time to trying to find each-other. As much as I hate to say this - and I can't believe I'm talking about two thirteen-year-olds right now - that's no normal friendship. There's something special between you two, and anyone that can't see that might as well be blind."

Mike smiles, and feels his cheeks quickly turn red. He looks to El, seeing the same expression on her. "I- I suppose you're right." Mike eventually responds. This is a girl that's saved his life countless times, helped saved Will's life from a freaking echo dimension, and then sacrificed herself to save them all from a literal monster. And then to top it off, she had apparently been draining herself to watch over him. How could their friendship not be special?

El nods her head in agreemennt. Mike was the first person to take her in from the freezing cold rain, gave her clothes and food, and a safe place to be.  He was the first person to treat her, well, like a person. He'd tried to protect her from the bad men, and probably would've sacrificed himself to the Demogorgon if she hadn't stopped him. And then to top it off, he tried to call her every day for three-hundred and fifty-three days.  How could their friendship not be special?

They look at each-other and their smiles grow nearly infinitely. He's sure his mouth is going to eject itself off his face any time now. Jim rolls his eyes at the scene, and turns his head back forward. "Right, let's get out of here." With that, they begin their journey towards the Wheeler residence.

  


" Here we are, kid." Jim announces as they slow to a halt outside the Wheeler residence. 

"Thanks, Chief." he responds. He turns to El. "See you soon?"

She smiles and nods her head. " Soon ."  She leans up to him and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. "Promise."

His cheeks may as well be glowing; his smile nearly hurting. "Promise." he simply repeats, before climbing out of the truck, retrieving his bike from the boot, and heading towards the house. As he enters, he turns to them one last time and gives a wave. El waves back before Mike closes the door.

Jim rolls his eyes  once again . ' _God help me._ ' he thinks to himself, before continuing the drive home.

' _God... Help me._ '

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading! Please do leave a comment with your thoughts on this work. As it's my first I know I can definitely improve on some points.  
> If you've found any errors, be it spelling, gramatical, etc. please do give me a shout. I'm an absolute nutter about that stuff so if I find out there's any mistakes in this I'll go insane. :)
> 
> Thanks again!


End file.
